Penguin Books say that men who read are more attractive to women, and they're out to prove it- backing this up with an NOP poll result. (Duh! as if we needed an expert to tell us that..) Sexpert Tracey Cox will appear on the newly reader-influential Richard and Judy show at the end of May to broadcast the books=sex message. Each month from June onward, a man spotted reading a featured title will win £1000, and a woman whom Penguin's spies see chatting up a man reading that title wins a grand too. The June book is Nick Hornby's 31 Songs, followed by Melvin Burgess's naughty teen sex novel Doing It, PJ Tracy's thriller Want To Play? and Dave Eggers's You Shall Know Our Velocity. What do you think of this?

And I bet they all just happen to be Penguin books too?

Steven

Is this 'men who read books', or 'men who can read', as in the corn flakes packet, or 'push'/'pull' on doors?

Confused,

fearless

Too busy reading to comment. Big books. Whoppers. Even some without pictures...No dog-eared paperbacks for me. I'm a hardback kinda guy.

I agree with Penguin! This weekend I saw the film The Station Agent, and in it, the very good looking Bobby Cannevale plays a hot dog vendor. His character starts out as being very amiable, but slightly brain dead, and as I was entertaining fantasies of whether I'd like him to be washed and sent round to my tent, I was erring on the side of probably not, until he started reading a book (All Quiet on the Western Frontaccording to IMDB) and suddenly I changed my mind! Had this been real life I might have sat down next to him and have tried to talk to him about what he was reading - an excellent way to break the ice.

Anyway, in my view, literacy can transform eye-candy into brain-candy so could just be the thing that gets you hired, boys!

Adele.

And what's the prize for the first baby conceived by a man who read a R & J hit-list book and a woman who chatted him up coz of it? Is this not thinly veiled reality TV meets Blind Date?

Well, that was partly why I asked the question- and also, is it a good thing to encourage people to read because they think they'll appear attractive? is this likely to happen? I suppose after Lit Idol, anything's possible..

I have no problems with people reading to appear attractive if it gets them reading in the first place. However, on the reading to pull front, this thread has stirred up all kinds of memories of my most literate ex, who, when I first met him had some rather intelligent novel (can't remember though what it was) sticking out visibly from his jacket pocket, and that was one of the things that got us first talking. Also, he later confessed to have been very inspired by the pulling techiniques (e.g. hanging out by the Blake paintings in the Tate, I seem to remember) found in Martin Amis's The Rachel Papers, a seminal work for him. Another tip he gleaned from that book was the cover all the chairs in his college room with books so girls would have to sit on the bed - apparently a great success!

Funny thing-Anna,
I used to always carry a fresh apple on me wherever I would go...the museum, library, store, anywhere. And if there was a really attractive girl in my vicinty, I would casually whip out my Apple and start eating all the while maintaining my focus on whatever I was doing at the moment.
I did this to send out the vibe that says-I'm healthy, I'm smart, and I really like apples(which I do).What I'm really thinking is-"does this hottie notice me, is she looking interested?"
I would get some stares, and vibes of curiousity would be sent back. And I would be approachable for intelligent conversation.
It may sound stupid, but it kind of worked.

God, I am so shallow.

Oh, not sure about this one. Book + Men = Sexy ?

I love books, but I would find the man listening to his Walkman or engrossed in Empire magazine more sexy than the man reading a Nick Hornby book.

But for a £1000...
Dawn,x


<Added>

Adam that is so funny. 'Apples'. Excellent.

Silver, how about whipping out an Apple Mac and appearing to write a novel?

Adele.

yeah, like whip out a laptop while sitting on a bench in the middle of the park and pretend to type and be deep in thought. Haven't tried that. That may work too.
Careful, your feeding the devil new ideas.

I bet the women thought 'Oh no, there's that strange apple-eating man again'

Being gay, I suppose whether I read or not making me attractive to women is a bit null and void. I suppose it may come in handy if I need some ironing done.

Of course, I am merely jesting. Someone who is literate and can string a sentence together is generally more attractive than say, an apeman in human form. Then again, beauty is is the eye of the beholder...

James x

If a woman thinks a man reading a book is sexy that must make those of us who write as well irresistable

Books=sexy. Mmmmm. It really depends on the man. When I was at uni there was this very clever lecturer who obviously read a lot - and made it very obvious that he was clever (egotistical muppet). I found out he liked me in a big way. Let me tell you that no amount of books, intelligence or Richard and Judy money could have made me look twice at that pervy, weird, insular, tight-arsed freak. He once looked at me like I was a complete pleb because I owned a television and listened to popular music - this while drooling copiously on his shoes. Bleeeeeaurgh!

My husband's very clever. He reads a lot, but he also has a great sense of humour, is very kind, mellow, polite, plus he has gorgeous blue eyes and, when I met him, had longish blonde hair. He has a great body too, which doesn't hurt at all - no siree. Floats my boat. It's the package.

I think Ted Bundy was quite smart and read a lot - but he wouldn't have been such a great date now would he?